If you’re 65 or older and still working, not because you have to, but because you want to, Jerry Dias has a message for you.
“Those that have the means should move out of the way. There’s a lot of young people today who are struggling,” says the national president of labour union Unifor.
“So those that are in a position to move on, move. Create an opportunity for young people.”
In a column written for The Huffington Post, Dias laments the end of mandatory retirement as a loss of opportunity for young workers. He says it’s what got him a foot in the door in his previous profession.
“I think about the opportunity that I got in the late ’70s at de Havilland Aircraft/Bombardier. Somebody retired and I got a job. So we can’t be thinking about ourselves all the time, we need to think about others.”
Numbers from Statistics Canada’s latest census show the amount of seniors working these days has steadily risen: from 9.3% part-time and 4.7% full-time in 1980, to 13.8% part-time and 5.9% full-time in 2015.
Officials at human resources firm Morneau Shepell say there are a number of factors. People live longer in retirement these days, and companies need workers to serve for longer and are often more stingy with their pension plans.
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“Defined benefit pension plans were the norm many years ago… and those provided secure retirement income if they worked a full career,” says the company’s vice president, Joe De Dominicis.
“In today’s environment, many people don’t have defined benefit pension plans. They have to save on their own for retirement.”
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Dias says he understands that not everybody can call it a career at age 65. He says if anything, that sheds a light on what he calls a social issue.
“It’s a debate about wants and needs for young people, opportunities for young people, but there’s also the social aspect about making sure people can retire in dignity with a decent income.”
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